Tongue Tied

Robyn - posted on 06/05/2010
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My son is 9 months old now and is tongue tied just a bit. He has no issues with eating moving his toungue, sticking it out a bit...and such.I am weighing out the facts to get it cut. I understand that his speach my improve, but it's not bad enough to create a problem as of yet. (he still says momma/dadda without a problem)If it wasn't bad enough to get done, would you? for the possibily of it "may" be a problem in the long run.? a 50-50? Would you put your little guy through it? I'm stick!

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Francine - posted on 06/20/2010

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I am a pediatric dental assistant and we do the procedures in our office. The problem with being tongue tied will probably not show itself just yet. The problemcomes withthe words that the tongue actually has to touch the teeth or the roof of the mouth. The S'ss , and blend words. If he can stick his tongue out then it is probably not that severe. The procedure is not really all that bad. We numb the tongue and slice with a blade. It does bleed alot because of the vessels but it's just that little piece of tissue under the tongue. My friend just brought her 1 year old in and had it done. Go see a pediatric dentist as well as your pediatrician and get their input. Ultimately it will be your decision. The little ones tend to do alot better than the older ones. FYI.

Hi there I am new to this group but just wanted to add something. My son had his tongue tie cut when he was a day old because it was causing me pain to feed him. He was fine with the procedure, it is a simple operation!! But if there are no problems then he may be fine. My sister in law's tongue is 100% tied and she has had no problems. Some gaging on solid food is very normal for any child when they learn to eat, it has more to do with oral-motor skills than anything else. Whatever you decide will be fine...but you may find you don't have to decide now and can watch a bit longer to see if any problems develop...well done for asking for advice, you know your kid the best and you'll make the right choice for your family :-)

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Christina Lazaro - posted on 06/23/2013

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we are in the same predicament. My problem now is no doctor would cut it as it is not needed. They classify my son's tongue as insignificant to warrant an operation, but I am desperate to have him talk. We are doing early intervention for some time now to prepare him for his speech therapy. I just wonder, if the tantrums he displayed is just a manifestation of his inability to express himself clearly. I'm still hoping of finding a doctor who would suggest to cut the insignificant tongue tie. Btw my son is going to 3 and he is just approximating words. . Patience and faith is all we need u

I just went back through and read all the posts since we have officially scheduled our son for getting his tongue clipped - Sept 3rd - the funny thing is everyone here is basically saying it was an in office procedure, not numbed at all, we are going through amb. surgery - where he will be knocked out with an IV - every doctor in our area refuses to just snip it in office. he's tied right to the end so his tongue looks like a heart on the end - so it's pretty bad, although he's almost 25lbs so obviously it doesn't bother his eating except of course the solids - but my husband was tied too and had his done once he entered school and his speech was messed up - so I really dont' want to put my baby boy through that at like 5 either - after reading all of these, I think it's best if your going to do it, do it when they are young seems to be the overwhelming conclusion-

that sounds soooo much like my son - he too is now 10 mos old and slightly tongue tied, he does gag on stuff but his speech as of this point has not been bothered, obviously he eats well enough, he's over 23lbs, so no weight concerns. His Peds doc at this point said not to worry about it at this point. My husband was also tongue tied as a child and ended up having it cut at about 5 yrs old, I guess it's quite painful.

My son was born with a tongue tie also. Besides a few weeks of painfull breastfeeding all is well. I did not have it snipped. He is now 46 weeks and having no issues at all. If there isn't a need for it why pit him through it?

Our little boy had it and we got it cut as he was having trouble breast feeding. It's done in seconds and it's not a bad experience at all. I was surprised how quickly it was done. We didn't want to run the risk of "wot if" his speech was impared or other affects of not cutting it and it's made breast feeding so much easier for the little guy. I wouldn't do it again for any other children I have, for sure.

Hi there my daughter is tongue tied to but Im not worrying about it (she is 9 and a half months). Also I am tongue tied a bit too and so is my twin sister - although hers is quite severe - she cant stick her tongue out! and we have had no problems at all. Ive read other peoples comments that their kids have needed speech therapy but we didnt need anything like that....

My Daughter had tongue tie. It was attached at the tip of her gum. Pretty bad! So we got it clipped when she was a little over a month old. Honestly, it was the best thing we could do for her and it was very quick. I was more histarical and cried. My daughter only cried for a minute. I nursed her right away and she was fine. It's the little bit of blood that they taste that makes them cry. But it doesn't hurt them as much as we think. It's more scary then it is. I was afraid she would have a speech problem. She ate just fine. I also wanted her to be able to stick out her tongue etc. If your son can do all of that and can speek ok, I would leave it alone. Most doctors won't snip just because it causes a speech problem. They are only concerned if they can't eat. Good luck with what ever your decide. Molly's Mommy

My son was very tounge tied when he was born 95% of it. I never saw him having a problem other than he was feeding all the time. Come to find out he wasnt able to latch on and feed proper and they were suprised he got any milk at all. I got it cut when he was a month old and it had to be done twice to get all of it, and I do think it was the best thing for him. He speaks perfect now and eats wonderfully.

I agree! It is more than worth it.That is exactly what they did to my baby girl.It was so easy and now I know she can't have any problems from it.It's really one more than about what they go through getting shots.

My daughter is 9 months old. She had a small tongue tie cut a few months ago. I would recommend you to get it done whilst your child is young. The tongue tie may never cause any problems,on the other hand it can affect speech later on in life. I didn't want to risk my daughter having speech problems and the procedure was so simple. I'm happy I made the decision to get it done. All that is involved is your baby will get held still by a nurse. The doctor will cut the frenulum with a small scissors. The procedure is not painful. No anaesthetic is required. There was a tiny amount of bleeding which stopped by holding a gauze swab under the tongue for about 20secs. The only bit my daughter was upset about was getting pinned down to keep her still. Get it done it's not worth risking it!!!!

My baby girl was tongue tied at birth.I couldn't breastfeed because of it.Her doctor clipped her tonge in her office at her 1 week visit.I stood outside the door because I didn't want to see my baby hurt.She only cried for a min. after they were done and feed 5 min. later.It was them holding her down that upset her so much.I'm very glad I had her's clipped but every Mom has to do what she thinks is best for her child.It's alot like having your ears pierced.It hurts for a few minutes,then it's over.If I thought I would ever have to later,I would do it now.The younger the child the easier it is for them.

My son had a small tounge tie. We had it cut. The procudure is very quick and easy. It doens't really bother them at all. He was fine immedately after. I think that it is worth getting done because there is no benfit to keeping it and there could be problems caused by leaving it. It is safe and easy to get done with little to no pain to the child.

I would say do it! My son was very tongue tied at birth and had his tongue clipped when he was 2 days old. It's a minor thing, I can't even call it a surgery. He was nursing 30 minutes later. With a 50-50 chance he may have problems I think it would be well worth taking care of now.

My son was tongue tied and I had his frenulum clipped when he was 4 months old. Actually I went for a consult and the doctor just did it! It took 2 seconds and he never shed a tear. I would recommend it while babies are still to young to be scared of it!!

2 of my 3 children were tongue tied. Both of them were clipped. Not a single tear from their eyes. Only a tiny bit of blood that was stopped by simply nursing them. The only problem either of them had was being held down very still for the literally less than 30 second procedure. It does not hurt. There is no freezing involved.That is not to say that there have not been people out there that have had problems with the procedure. I just dont know any of them.My problem was with the doctors who told me it did not need to be done. Because I was nursing they told me I could just give a bottle, which was not an option for me I dont trust formula. They also told me they could always have speech therapy when they got older if they needed it. This was also not an option for me. I believed it was in MY childrens best interest to learn to speak properly from the get go.I do believe you need to do what you believe is best for your children. This is just my experience. Hope it helps. :)

hi robyn my name is marina darley i have a little boy called andrew he was born with the same thing if he does have a problem dont try and fix it see if it bothers him when he gets older thats what im doing

My son was also tongue-tied when he was born. The doctor recommended snipping it at his 2 week appt as it would probably interfere with his speech and such as he got older (He nursed just fine!) His was quite far up. It was soooo simple! It was a quick snip and it bled for just a minute (not bad at all) and he cried for a few minutes and it was over! If you are thinking of doing it, I would suggest doing it now so they won't really remember it when they are older! THe doctor also said it's just a small piece of skin and isn't a big deal to clip. I would go off of the recommendation of your doctor! Good Luck! (PS. As a dental assistant, I was super happy with doing it cuz sometimes it can be difficult to take x-rays on people with their tongues-tied. Just a side note! :)

My daughter is now 10 months and i got her tongue cut at 5 months. The hardest part was the watching it actually get cut, but she wasn't even affected afterward. She didn't even know what happened once she got over the holding her down and cutting it. She is doing great, and sticking her tongue out, and i would definitely recommend doing it at a young age

My little boy was born with a severe tongue tie, something I had never heard of until he was born. It was so bad he couldn't breastfeed properly and I got really bad damage straight off. One of the nurses pushed for a pediatrician to cut it, while others said leave it. i was so confused, stressed and upset about it. Finally after talking with the pediatrician we decided to do it. Jasper didn't even notice it being done and it was over in a second. We then went on to breastfeed very successfully and I am glad now we did it. I know it is different for you as your bub is older, I am not sure I would do it now. My husband has it too but not as badly as jasper did, and he never had it done nor has he suffered because of it. If you aren't noticing any problems then I wouldn't stress about it, trust your instinct.

my 2and half yr old daughter is tongue tied and so far she soesnt have a problem with it. She eats anything she wants really and her speach is understandable as far as a two yr olds is. I would hate the thought of having to get hers cut, I was told when she was younger by health nurse that many people go thru life with tongue tie and dont seem to have a problem with it. Its a hard decision to make but we have left ti in faiths hands and so far so good. Sorry couldnt be of more help.

my son had a really bad tongue tie which got cut when he was 4 weeks old it was a hard decision for me to make getting it cut as i also have a tongue tie. mine has never caused me any problem but i could tell from my son that it would effect him as at the time i was trying to breast feed him but he couldn't latch on properly. he how seems to have the opposite problem and his tongue seems to move around to much and be constantly out of his mouth.

Yes sweetie let me know. We were blessed that his little brother didn't have the Tongue tie that his brother has. I am certain that if I had to do this over again I would hunt a doctor that would do the clipping procedure. It takes them 15 minutes and minor discomfort now that could save him so much extra hurt down the road physical and emotional.

Thank you! He has no pain, but he is doing everything you are saying your son has. I think you have givin me a look on the other side, Im going to book the appointment now, he is 9 months and a bit, I'll let you know how I made out!Thanks again!

Oh man his was able to stick over his gums but not his lips without pain. He did fine till we got past the puree stage. He would want the bigger chucks of food (like the finger grabbing bites) but he would try to move it around in his mouth and gag then still want it and want more. It was heart breaking and painful for all involved. If your Pediatrician will clip the tie NOW before he gets to be old enough that he should be eating most of his food on his own. It will be so hard if you don't. Even if your son has a lesser version of what Noah had it's worth it not to have to deal with speech therapy and chopping up food for extra years.

Lisa..was your son still able to stick out his tongue a bit? or gagging on the bigger chunks of food?he gags on the bigger chunks, but still wants it, its almost mush but is that where this is comming to play that he can't mush it in his mouth?I'm sorry your son had to go through that, I need advise so I dont end up doing that either. :)

Oh man I WISH I could have gotten my older son's Tongue fixed (he's 7 now) He had such a painful time of things. It caused him problems when he got to bigger chunks of food (read small handheld bits). He had such a hard time speaking in a way that people could understand. It has taken 5 straight years of Intensive speech therapy to be understandable to people who know him. Some people still have a hard time understanding him. On top of everything it kept ripping when he tried to eat and it caused him so much pain that he would cry for hours when he was three and four. I would absolutely get it taken care of before you have a chance to have to go though any of this. Our doctor wouldn't fix his tongue and it has caused us so much heart ache and physical discomfort for him.

Thanks! I dont want to do it, but I keep getting all this feedback that if I dont do it and he starts to have a problem, it will be my fault that I didnt do it earlier.Its hard when you have things dangling over you.

I wouldn't do it! My dad is VERY tongue tied and i asked his mom about it and she said he never had a problem because of it. I am tongue tied a little bit and it's never been a problem with anything. I personally wouldn't put my little guy through that if I didn't HAVE to.